1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lacrosse and, more particularly, to an improved lacrosse stick pocket adapted for improved playing characteristics.
2. Description of the Background
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional lacrosse stick 100 having a handle 102 and a double-wall synthetic head 104. Head 104 comprises a generally V-shaped frame having a juncture 106, sidewalls 108 and 110, a transverse wall (or “scoop”) 112 joining the sidewalls at their ends opposite juncture 106, and a stop member (or “throat”) 114 joining sidewalls 108 and 110 at their ends nearest juncture 106. As shown, handle 102 fits into and through juncture 106, and abuts stop member 114. A screw or other fastener placed through an opening in stop member 114 secures handle 102 to head 104.
A pocket 107 made of thongs and string may be attached to head 104. The pocket extends from upper thong holes 116 in transverse wall 112 to lower thong holes 118 in stop member 114. In some designs, upper thong holes 116 are located on tabs (not shown) of the scoop 112. On other designs, such as the design shown in FIG. 1, upper thong holes 116 are located directly on the scoop 112. FIG. 1 shows four pairs (116, 118) of thong holes that accept four thongs or perimeter side stringing to which thongs can be attached. To attach the lacrosse pocket, thongs are threaded around or otherwise attached to the thong holes 116 and strings are laced through string holes 120 in sidewalls 108 and 110, typically forming a number of diamonds in a cross-lace pattern as shown in FIG. 1. The typical features of a lacrosse stick pocket are also shown generally in Crawford et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,984.
It is well-known to include one or more vertically-oriented (scoop to throat) runners at the center of the pocket made of different material and having a different structure than the rest of the pocket, and a plurality of cross-pieces extending transversely to support them. The runners form a chute or channel for the ball and improve feel and playability when catching or throwing. However, they also make stringing and attaching a lacrosse pocket to a head more difficult.
Some manufacturers have attempted to resolve the above issue with a preform pocket. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,524,253 to Gait generally describes a pre-formed pocket including runners having two layers of multiple types of different materials and perpendicular cross pieces strung between the runners. While this construction provides an easy-to-install runner system, it requires significant skill to precisely position and connect the cross pieces to the multilayered runners, and the runners themselves must have both a top and bottom layer that need to be sewn or otherwise held together. This configuration is more susceptible to wear, and increases manufacturing complexity and cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,371,967 to Winningham et al. shows a lacrosse head pocket with an elongated single layer runner with multiple cross pieces. The single layer runner is entirely overmolded over the cross pieces which simplifies manufacturing, but provides less than ideal performance because the all-elastomer channel can be too springy and repel the ball, especially in women's sticks where the game rules require much tighter stringing than in men's sticks.
Because of these deficiencies, there remains room for improvement in both structural configuration and materials used.